Maybe This Time
by starattheend
Summary: When Puck and Rachel part from the bleachers, is that really the end of their relationship? When you put more into something, maybe this time, they'll get something more out of the relationship.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the first story that I have written in about 10 years, so please be kind. Feedback is appreciated greatly. I'm not sure how long this is going to be, but I promise to wrap it up nicely when it comes to end. I really hope you enjoy the story. Oh, and I don't own Glee, or any of the characters in the story.

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Rachel knew when Puck told her that they weren't friends to begin with, that it was the truth. So, then why did it hurt so badly when he got up from the bleachers and walked away? The spent a week together, which to most wasn't that long, but to Rachel who only had moments with Finn to compare it to, it seemed like something more. Finn, he was a mirage, a fantasy. Rachel was no stranger to fantasy. Every day seemed like her goals were moving further and further out of her reach. So why now, when something that was real and tangible, was she letting walk away from her. Was it because Finn was watching and a part of her wanted him to rush off of the football field and come and console her?

She sighed and whispered to herself, "another fantasy." Without thinking, Rachel was on her feet. "Noah! Wait, please."

When she reached him at his truck, he looked surprised, yet annoyed that she had chased after him.

"What don't you understand? We're not friends; we walked down the hallway and made out once." Noah didn't understand what she was doing here. He couldn't understand why he was happy she called after him, either. He knew it was wrong, that he was as bad as Finn for not telling her the truth about Quinn. In the moment, however, he was curious as to what was so important for her to tell him.

"Noah," she said breathlessly from running, "I know that we are too different for this to work out, but maybe, just maybe we are too different for this not to work."

He cocked his head to side, realizing what she was saying, but was it something that he wanted to hear? "What are you trying to say? I just told you that I like Quinn, and it's been obvious since day one that I joined Glee Club you were all Glenn Close for Finn. He actually asked me to take care of his pet rabbit, just because he was a little nervous."

She looked at him incredulously for a moment, and couldn't figure out if he was kidding or not. When his lips cracked that roguish smile that made her agree to date him in the first place, she knew that he was pulling her leg. She smiled back at him, and tried her best to imitate the playfulness, yet seductive nature of his smile.

"Yeah, but you also told me that Finn and Quinn will never break up." When the words left her mouth she noticed that Puck winced a little, as if that hurt him as much as it hurt her. "So why would we put ourselves through that? I wasn't miserable with you, Noah."

He noticed the vulnerability in her eyes, which were a deep chocolate brown. He'd never noticed her eyes before. The only feature of hers that he'd ever noticed was her mouth. That was mainly because she was always doing one of three things with it: Singing, lecturing, or kissing him. The last one was the one he'd enjoyed the most, but was it something that was worth dealing with all the singing and the lecturing for?

As she looked up at him, though, something changed. Here was a girl, granted she wasn't popular as Santana and she wasn't as experienced as the cougars, but there was something else inside her. The popularity wouldn't mean anything in a few years, and the cougars would just be old. Maybe this idea wasn't the worst. It would please his mother. It wasn't something that he could decide that moment.

"Noah?" She said, still standing there, waiting for an answer that he couldn't quite come up with at that moment. She could see the deep thought written across his face, and knew that now was not the time to go all "Rachel Berry," on him. Especially, since she was putting her heart on the line. "Noah, I'm not saying you have to decide now, I just want to be happy, and Finn, well that's not an option, according to you, not now, not ever."

_God, how can girls do that?_ Puck thought to himself. Ten minutes ago, he was not interested in Rachel Berry at all. Now, standing in the parking lot, with those big eyes staring up at him, it's taking all of his strength, not to grab her and kiss her. That would send the wrong message, considering that he doesn't know how he feels about this situation. There are pros and cons to every situation, but this one will have repercussions that may last a lifetime. "Rachel, what you're saying is true, but you're right, I can't decide now. I need some time. Can I call you later?" he said, wondering if not blowing her off on the spot is the right decision.

"Of course, you can. I'm glad that you're at least thinking about it, Noah. Don't worry, I won't get my hopes up," she smiled and walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I had 4 chapters stockpiled before I was able to publish, so please let me know what you think of the story so far. I think I got most of the spelling, grammatical, and missing word errors out of the way in proof reading, but please let me know, and as always, reviews are always welcome.

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When Puck got home, he went straight to his room. He had a lot to think about. The cougars never made him work this hard, and while he likes Quinn, is there really a future there? He is the father of her unborn child, and he knows what it feels like to not have a father figure in his life. Quinn, however, has made it very clear that she does not want him in her or the baby's life, and according to Finn, she's giving the baby up for adoption. _Selfish, as usual_, he thought. She doesn't consult anyone's feelings but her own. She didn't even ask Finn, who she's masquerading around as the father. As Puck strums his guitar lazily, the phone rings shaking him out of his daze. He picks up his cell phone, and sees it Finn. _Great,_ he thinks, _more explaining to do_.

"Hey man, what's going on?" Finn asks tentatively.

"Nothing, just got home, messing around with the guitar, trying to see if there is anyway I can make these Glee songs just a little more badass. How was football practice?" he asks trying to draw the attention away from the scene he and Rachel had on both the bleachers and in the parking lot.

"It was alright. Mr. Schue talked me into coming back to Glee, and I got Coach Tanaka to cancel Thursday practices indefinitely. That's why I'm calling; Coach Tanaka told me to let you, Matt, and Mike that if you want to come back to football, it won't interfere with Glee anymore."

_Maybe no one noticed Rachel and me talking. Maybe I was the only who saw how beautiful she looked sitting there_, Puck thought to himself. It wasn't a secret they dated, they paraded down the hall, and that was when he got slushied. Things would be different now, it wouldn't be a sham, and it wouldn't be to make Quinn jealous. Well, maybe a little bit jealous, but not 100% for that reason. Not this time.

"Thanks for letting me know, man. I'll be at the next practice. Thanks for talking to Coach."

"Hey, what was that with Rachel on the bleachers? It looked pretty intense," Finn asked. _Busted_, Puck thought. Finn's usually clueless, but when someone pines over you, you tend to notice where they are, and despite Finn's present predicament, he still liked having Rachel swooning over him, and that made a small part of Puck jealous of his friend. "I saw you walk away from her, and then her go after you. Did you break up with her?"

"Not exactly, I tried to, then she broke up with me, but, I'm not sure it's completely over, we both have a lot to think about. How are things going with Quinn?" Puck changed the subject, as to remind Finn that while having a fan club was nice, he still had a girlfriend with a bun in the oven. Not exactly the most tactful thing Puck has done, but every now and then Finn needs reality to smack him across his face.

"Things are good. When we went to the doctor we found out it was a girl, I suggested a name, but she didn't like it. I think she'll come around though; it's just the hormones, and the fact that we're not keeping it, so she doesn't want to name it. Her, I mean, _she's_ not an _it_."

"Wow!" Puck felt his stomach tighten, he was having a little girl. Suddenly he felt as though he was going to pass out. "Dude, that's awesome, but I got to go. My mom is going to be home from work soon, and I've got to start dinner."

"Thanks, hey just one more thing, Rachel's a little scary and intense, but overall she's a good person," Finn said as if he was not only telling Puck, but also himself. "Just don't hurt her, okay?"

"Worry about your own girl, Finn. I'll worry about my women, thanks," and Puck hung up the phone. You can't have your cake and eat it too, and Finn needed to learn that. Puck threw the phone onto the bed and flopped back. Why should it have to be either misery alone or misery together? Why can't we just be happy with who we want to be with? _Because if it were that easy, where would the incentive be to keep trying?_ Rachel wasn't easy, she would never be easy, but the fact that she was offering herself up, like a sacrificial lamb was odd. Rachel never did anything unless there was something in it for her. It wasn't in a selfish way, like it was for Quinn or even himself. There might be something in it for the both of them.

_I always talk about being such a badass, but now, here's something that is new and potentially awesome, and my badassness goes out the window. How can this 5'1", 105lbs girl be so scary? This is the girl I would throw a slushy at on a daily basis, how did it go from pure hate, to intrigue, to making out and wanting to keep doing it? God, I hope this is the right thing._

Puck found the phone from when he threw it after the frustrating conversation with Finn and looks through his contacts for Rachel's number. For a moment, he considers calling Santana for what would be a sure thing, but that would only lead to regression, not the progress he has made in these past few weeks. It's too cold for pools, and not cold enough for snow, so it would be strange if he called any of his cougars to see if they needed maintenance. _Stop!_ He thought. _That's the easy way out, just because you got burned with Quinn, doesn't mean that you should throw this Rachel thing away. Or because I got burned with Quinn, should I jump into this Rachel thing? _He took a deep breath and hit send.


	3. Chapter 3

Rachel couldn't believe the phone conversation she had with Noah. He was his old self, with sarcasm and brashness, but that was just a façade and she could see parts of it starting to fall away.

"I'm not going to run around school with you in tights and singing show tunes, if you want that, date Hummel," he told her matter of fact. "You have to remember that I am a football player, and all around badass, so you have to not want to change me."

"Noah, I wouldn't dream of changing you, but you changed yourself. You joined Glee. Would "Puck" do that or was it, that you're tired of being "Puck," the football player, the jerk, the womanizer? I see something inside of you, Noah, and if you want to do this, then you can't run the second it gets hard to be around me. I am high maintenance, and I have high expectations, by accepting me, you're agreeing to reach my expectations. I'm not talking about singing show tunes or duets for my MySpace page; I'm talking about supporting me, and standing behind me, and Glee." She said, and he could almost hear her stomping about her pastel pink room, it's what living inside cotton candy would be like, sweet but after awhile it would make you sick.

He thought she was assertive and that it was sexy, but at the same time, she has crazy expectations for herself and her expectations for him must be sky high. "And what do you expect from me?" he asked almost afraid of her response.

"This isn't a relationship where we hang out at my house, and we make out, but at school, I'm just a Glee kid and you're a football player. No more chasing tail, as they say, you will not be a playboy and make me look like…" she trailed off, not quite sure how to finish the sentence.

"I won't make you look like a fool the way that Finn does," he said quietly, knowing that's what she wanted to hear.

"Thank you," she said, sighing, and he knew that was something that was important to her. "I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow, Noah. I didn't get my hopes up, but I'm glad that we're trying again."

"Do you want me to pick you up in the morning?" he said, knowing that although she might not have expected it, she would appreciate it. He wasn't sure how he felt about it, but he offered nonetheless. "It's the least I can do."

"No, Noah, it's the most, thank you. What time will you be here?" she smiled as she asked.

When she found out that he would pick her up at 7:35am, she quickly took out a different outfit than she originally planned to wear. Instead she will now wear a shorter of a skirt, and a bit tighter of a top. The outfit didn't reach trashy lengths, like those Cheerio uniforms. _How can any self respecting girl wear that and keep any of her dignity? _She thought, Rachel knew the art of the tease, and despite not knowing where this would end up, either in something meaningful, or whether it would all implode in her face, she was at least going to look good while it happened.

_He will hold me fast_

_I'll be home at last_

When he showed up early, Rachel was impressed. Even more impressed so when he got out of the car to open the door for her. He was just hoping that she would slip up and he would be able to catch a glimpse of her underwear, but also a lady, Rachel practiced and made sure she didn't show more than she was willing to.

"So what classes are you taking," she asked, trying to not have any awkward silences.

"Normal classes, you know," he said, not quite sure how to be civil. Rachel Berry was in his truck. It wasn't an freak out, I can't believe I got her here moment, it was a I can't believe this is actually my life moment.

"Oh, okay, I know it didn't sound very convincing when I told you that you were a good performer, but you are, Noah, and your solo was really good. I could tell that you really meant what you were singing, that's what makes a performance believable, and I believed you," she said trying to flatter him into opening up a little bit.

"Thanks," he half grunted. _What am I doing here? Why did I think dating Rachel Berry was going to be a good idea? She talks too much, and it's never about anything that I understand. _

"If you want me to get a ride home with Kurt today, I can. His dad gave him back his truck, so I won't have to bother you," she said. He could tell from the look in her eyes, she was annoyed with him and a little disappointed that they couldn't make it work for the 10 minute drive to school. "I was silly to think that this could work, we are too different."

The truck stopped and before he could put it into park, she hopped out and stomped her way towards the front door. He threw the truck in park and punched the steering wheel, _how did I mess this up already?_ He got out of the car and started after her. _She's fast for being so tiny._ He thought as he broke into a run. Finally, right as she opened the front door, he caught up to her and closed the door in front of her and snaked himself between her and the door. "I'm sorry, I'm not very talkative in the morning, and I should have warned you. It's the first day, Rachel, and if you're willing to give up so easily, I don't think you're living up to **my** expectations." He laughed and put his hands on her shoulders, "You're chocolate, and I'm bacon, on the outside these things don't go together, but when you look closer, I'm not too sure they go together either, but you never know until you try, and well I'm willing to try."

"So you're saying that I'm sweet and you're a pig?" she said laughing, "Okay, Noah, I'm sorry, I'm willing to try, and I would never want to let you down." She looked around and realized a gaggle of Cheerios and a very menacing group of football players looking at them "Everyone's looking at us, Noah; I think we should go in."

"Rachel, if we're going to do this, we're going to do this right, come here," he bent down and wrapped his arms around her waist. It wasn't rough like she imagined it would be, but she followed suit and put her arms around his neck. "This feels right, and if they are going to watch, we're going to give them something to look at," and as the last syllable left his mouth, his lips brushed against hers gently, in apology. "Let them talk, I'm ready for it"

_Not a loser anymore_

_Like the last time_

_And the time before_

The rest of the day went pretty much as planned. They went to classes; the only thing out of the ordinary is that people didn't seem to avoid Rachel as much. They didn't talk to her either, but it was more of a "what did she do to get him," kind of looks she was receiving from the Cheerios and all of a sudden, the football players were looking at her as if she were a girl, instead of "Manhands," a nice little nickname that Quinn pinned on her and stuck since freshman year. It was a good feeling, it was different. She didn't know how it would feel to be Noah Puckerman's girl, and if it was like this all the time, (which she was sure it wouldn't be) she would enjoy it in the moment. As she closed her locker door, she jumped, because standing behind the door was Kurt.

"Did you change your cream cleanser or something? Because there seems to be a lot of male attention around you, and even some of the Cheerios seem to be jealous," he seemed flushed; she wasn't sure if it was because he rushed over here to use the element of surprise, or if he too was a little bit jealous. "I thought you were breaking up with Puck after glee yesterday. What happened? Spill."

"Well, I did break up with him," she said. Kurt's eyes grew wide as saucers, and he put his hand up. She blinks at him, waiting for his response.

"So, what was that at the front doors this morning? Was there a game of spin the bottle that I wasn't invited to? Because the talk of the girls' room is your little lip lock with Puck, so explain away, Lucy," Kurt punctuated the end of his sentence by jutting out his hip and crossing his arms.

"He's good leading man material, and maybe there is more to him than what everyone sees? I don't know if I'm willing to give up not finding out if there is more to him. I want to see if he's all football and skirt chasing, or if hiding beneath that there is a sweet, nice," before she could finish, Kurt interrupts.

"You want to know if Finn is under there. Well played, my lady, just do me a favor, please," Kurt said taking her hand, "just don't fall in love. Think of Glee."

As he walked away, she looked at him, and wondered, if this didn't work out, would she and Puck be the only ones who would be hurt.


	4. Chapter 4

When she left her last class, Puck was waiting for her outside of the door. She wasn't expecting it, so she kept walking. He walked after her, "Rachel, are you still mad at me? What did I do now?" He said, putting his hand on her shoulder to turn her around.

"What? No. I'm not mad, I'm sorry I'm just not used to you waiting outside a class for me, without a slushy in your hand, that is," she said and laughed.

"Thank God, you're not mad, because I don't think I have it in me to keep up with you again, have you ever thought of going out for track, because damn you're fast," he said. She looked down embarrassed, and he placed a finger under her chin to tilt her face up towards his. "Are you ready to go home?" She nodded and he took her books from her arms. "Let's go then," he said as he put his free arm around her shoulder.

Rachel Berry couldn't believe it, Noah Puckerman was being chivalrous, and she blinked twice just to make sure this was happening to her. As they left school, Santana stood there looking at them with her mouth agape.

When they got out into the parking lot, the stares didn't stop, since all of this had happened after Glee practice, she hadn't had much of a chance to talk to any of the other members, except Kurt who accosted her at her locker in the morning, so Mercedes, Artie, and Tina were all staring at them. She looked behind her and motioned to them that she would call them later, and shrugged her shoulders to let them know that even she didn't know what was going on.

"What was that all about?" Puck asked her as she settled back in under the weight of his arm.

"Just telling Mercedes and Tina that I'll call them later, I haven't had a chance to explain, well, this to anyone, so they were more than a little curious as to what we're doing," she explained.

"Oh, so Rachel Berry kisses and tells, interesting, I guess I'm going to have to be careful about what we do," he said giving her a playful nudge.

"Noah, a girl must have her girlfriends to confide in, it's the high school girl code, you tell your friends about your boyfriend, is there anything that you don't want me to tell them, so we can avoid an embarrassing scene later?" she asked.

"No, tell them everything I want everyone to be jealous of you," he said.

"Too bad that you're dating me, no one will be jealous of you," she said sadly.

"Are you kidding? First of all, despite his baby mama drama Finn turned 10 shades of purple when you got out of my truck this morning, and despite the Glee club, you're a hot piece of ass," she smacked his chest. "What?" he looked at her in shock, "it's true, but with me in Glee now, the club's status is steadily rising, and I help a little, but yours is rising on your own."

She looked down demurely and then smiled back up at him, when they reached the truck, he opened the door for him, and doing the polite thing, she unlocked the driver's side door for him from inside the truck. He smiled, noting the polite gesture which she made.

_Maybe this will work, _he thought to himself. _ When she's not acting like a complete lunatic and she's not being intense, she's actually really sweet. And I'm not sure why I hadn't noticed how pretty she was, and she hasn't tried to change me. I'm getting ahead of myself, its only day one._

Rachel could tell that this was not one of the times that she should ramble on incessantly, so she just put her head back, and stared straight at the road. She had her hand next to her on the bench seat of the truck. She jumped a bit when she felt something brush her hand. She looked down and saw that Puck's hand was next to hers, so she did the logical girl thing; she put her hand on top of his, looked at him and smiled. "Noah, it may be too early to say this, but I'm glad we're trying again."

"I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I'm glad, too." he said in response.

They pulled up in front of her house, and she got out of the truck. She walked around to the driver's side, and he rolled the window down. "Thanks for driving me home, Noah. I'll talk to you later." She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, smiled and walked up to her front door. As she entered the house, and closed the door behind her, she leaned her back against the door and let out a sigh.

Back in his truck, Noah watched the door close, and let out a sigh himself, _this is absolutely crazy, but there is something special about that girl._ He put the truck in drive, and went home with the smell of her perfume on his mind.

Rachel woke up the next morning, with a smile on her face. It was hard to believe that Puck, Noah rather, was the reason she was smiling. Sure, it was crazy to think just a few months he was taunting her and assaulting her with slushies, but since he joined Acafellas, and even more recently, since he joined Glee, he seemed to mature. He actually seemed kinder. She had always thought he was cute, but it was one of those, love/hate relationships. Maybe not love, but "she thinks he's cute/he thinks she's a freak" relationship would explain it better. Somewhere in the last two months, though, something changed. The relationship that she had been fabricating in her mind with Finn was now truly non-existent, so why should she not start dating other boys?

_A football player,_ she thought to herself, which was something, she never thought, would happen. _A glee girl,_ she laughed, she was sure that Noah had never fathomed this development in his life. She had a feeling that Puck never saw himself dating the naïve, innocent, and virginal girl that she was. She knew of his reputation as a "ladies' man," she although when she joined the Celibacy Club, it wasn't because she believed in abstinence, it was to get closer to Finn, but she wasn't ready to just give it up to Puck because he picked her up and dropped her off from school one day. The idea, however, did intrigue her. When they were making out on her bed, he had a rough side, but yet, his touch was gentle. Sure, she imagined that it was Finn, but she knew that a part of her was just trying not face what was going on. She was making out with Puck, on her bed, her dads downstairs, maybe that was her rebellious side, maybe dating Puck gave her a little bit of adventure that her life up until this point was missing. Maybe she just liked how she felt in his arms. Rachel shrugged and started on her homework.

When Puck arrived home, he checked his cell phone and had a call from Santana, Quinn, and about 4 other Cheerios. He laughed to himself when he saw Quinn's number. _Now the blind can see_, he smirked and deleted the missed calls. _It's so funny that how once you become unattainable, everyone wants a piece of you._ He went inside and decided to figure something to do tonight, when his cell phone rang. He looked down and saw that it was Rachel.

"Hello, did you leave something in my truck?" he asked, not sure why she would be calling him so soon after seeing him.

"No, I didn't, but I thought that since we are now, an item, it's only fitting that you meet my fathers," she said in a very, you don't really have a choice in the matter, so put on a clean shirt and come back over here.

"I was thinking of going down to the Dairy Queen with Finn, Matt, and Mike tonight, so I don't think I'll be able to make it," he said thinking that might get him out of it.

"Noah, dinner will be at 7, please be a little early for hors d'oeuvres, and also, look nice, you're meeting my dads, they are nice men, but first impressions are everything,"

His mind was spinning, Puck Puckerman doesn't do parents, and he especially doesn't do two dads. "Rachel, I really don't think this is going to happen," he said trailing off.

"Noah, just show up, we can watch a movie afterward, it will be fun, now I'll see you in a little bit." She said, knowing he was currently freaking out. She went to the kitchen to start dinner, already with the perfect outfit picked out.

Noah looked at the phone, in a state of bewilderment. He put it down and decided to start getting ready, considering there was no other choice.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you so much for all of the wonderful feedback I've gotten! Sorry for making you wait so long for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it! Reviews and feedback are always welcome. Chapter 6 will be following soon.

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He looked at the house, as if when he was to walk up to it, it would swallow him whole. He couldn't believe that this was the third time in one day that he was sitting in his truck outside of Rachel Berry's house. Sure, she was his girlfriend now, so it was expected that he spend time with her out of school, but he didn't think that it would happen so fast. He couldn't believe that she was able to talk him into this, not even that, he never actually agreed, but he knew that it was easier to show up and sit through a terribly awkward dinner, with her gay fathers, than to not show up and incur her wrath the next day.

He got out of the truck, and brought with him the flowers that his mother insisted he wait an extra 10 minutes for her to go out into her rose garden and pick for him to bring. He wasn't sure if he were to give them to Rachel or her dads, or just the mom-dad. This was new territory for Puck, and he was going to have to tread lightly. He rang the doorbell, and within a minute, Rachel was standing at the door. She had on a dress, instead of her usual skirt. The fabric was loose, but it hugged the right spots.

"You look beautiful," he said, and mindlessly handed the flowers over to her, now knowing exactly who he was supposed to be giving the flowers to.

"Noah, thank you so much, come in, please," she opened the door wider to let him in. As he walked passed her, he kissed her cheek and smelt the perfume that was left lingering in his nostrils from when she got out of his truck. She smiled and closed the door behind him. One of her dads was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner, and the other was sitting down in the living room.

Puck looked around the house, sure he'd been here before, but that was just when he was trying to get in her pants. She made it very clear that this wasn't a one night stand or even a fling this time. He noticed the modern decor in the living room, the straight lines. It seemed very out of place in this small town of Lima. Then again, looking at Rachel, she didn't quite belong here either. She was energy and talent amongst what could only be "Lima losers," she had the drive to get out of there, while others talked about it, but when time came around to do something, they grew complacent and just went to the local community college and stayed in the same place where they were comfortable. That wasn't Rachel. He was about to find out why.

"Hello Noah, I'm Gabe, Rachel's father," he extended his hand, at least knowing Kurt had made him not feel too awkward, but still it was parents, and he was determined to make a good impression. Puck shook his hand, not sure what to do next.

"I'm Pu-Noah, it's very nice to meet you, your house is very nice," Puck said tentatively.

"Well, why don't you have a seat, Brian is in the kitchen with Rachel getting some appetizers ready," Gabe said, motioning towards the couch across from him. Puck sat down and was not quite sure how to be comfortable. The couch was a little too firm for his liking, but he tried his best to not appear as if he were uncomfortable.

"So, Mr. Berry, what do you do for a living?" he asked, hoping that this was a safe line of questioning.

"Actually, it's Adams, Brian's last name is Berry, at the hospital we had to decide quickly whose last name would be on the birth certificate, we thought that Berry had more star power than Adams, plus we didn't want anyone to think she was related to Bryan Adams."

"Well, when you guys can get married, wouldn't Rachel's other dad be Brian Adams?" Puck asked, hoping for a laugh.

"I never really thought of that, isn't that funny?" Gabe laughed, "Bri, Noah just brought something up, that we never thought of," he said to Brian Berry, as he walked out of the kitchen carrying a tray of cocktail hot dogs and something that looks like, well looks like something he would never eat.

"What's that?" Brian says as he sets the tray down in front of them. Puck didn't notice but there was a little cheese plate with crackers and pepperoni out, as well as a vegetable dip.

"That when we get married, and if you take my last name, you would be Brian Adams," Gabe explained laughing. Brian laughed too, and this relieved Puck. He thought his joke was a little silly, but he was happy to know that Rachel's dads were trying their best to not make him feel stupid.

"So, Noah, I never got to answer you, I am a CPA, and Brian is a real estate agent," Gabe answered him, after that strange Canadian pop star tangent they were on. "What about you, do you have a job right now or are you just focusing on your studies?"

"Actually, I went into business for myself, I started a pool cleaning business, and when the weather cools down, I usually will shovel out driveways, and plow roads, I have a plow for the front of my truck," he said, proud that he was smart enough to go into business for himself, he was putting the money away for college, well now his baby, but he wasn't going to bring that up in this venue.

"Well, isn't that industrious of you?" Brian remarked, "Is business good?"

"This time of year it's really slow, after Labor Day, I covered up all the pools of my clients, so now I'm just waiting for the first snow fall," he said, a bit embarrassed. Sure, he fixed the Ph levels in their pools, but he mainly just slept with the women who employed him. It was empty and meaningless, but he did learn a couple of things from the women. That was not the point now, as he sat in the living room with Rachel's two dads. "So during this time, I'm just focusing on school, football, and Glee."

"You play football and are in the Glee club with our Rachel?" Brian asked beaming proudly at his daughter.

"Yes, I just joined recently. I've always liked singing, and I can play guitar, so I figured, why not? A couple of other football players are in the club, too, so I'm not alone," Puck explained.

"Isn't that Finn Hudson in Glee Club with you, honey?" Gabe asked his daughter.

"Yeah, he's the male lead, but Noah has a wonderful voice as well, just the other day he sang "Sweet Caroline," by Neil Diamond. It was very good; I was going to ask Mr. Schuester to see if there was anyway we could do a mash up with it. He wanted "Bust a Move," but the two didn't quite go very well together. Try as he did, Noah just couldn't get the songs to work together," Rachel said smiling at Puck.

"I'm sure you can work something out, our Rachel is a wonderful talent, and with her help, I'm sure the two of you could work it out," Gabe said smiling in the same proud way that Brian looked at her. Puck could tell that they loved their daughter and that from a young age that they cultivated the talent that they saw in her. Puck was a bit jealous of Rachel, because she had a double dose of what he missed out on, when he father bailed on him, his mother, and his sister. However, he was sure that there was a lot in Rachel's life that she had to go through with because of her dads. Not that she saw anything wrong with having to fathers, but the small minded people of Lima, weren't always the most open-minded. There was no use in hiding it, until tonight, he wasn't either.

"I hope she can figure something out, because I think I'm the only person in Glee who has yet to sing a duet with her yet," Puck said smiling at Rachel.

"You want to sing a duet, with me?" Rachel asked flabbergasted. "I didn't know that."

"Rachel, who doesn't want to sing a duet with you, I think you are the most talented person in school. You have no idea how much everyone was freaking out when you left to join the musical. I really respect and admire your talent, and that's something that I knew even before we began dating," Puck said, not realizing his audience.

"Speaking of dating," Gabe interjected, "I just wanted to set a couple of ground rules." Puck sat back; he knew what was coming, because he'd been through this before. It took all of his strength to not roll his eyes, but he knew that open doors and 10pm curfews were coming his way. "We respect and trust Rachel's opinion. However, she is a 16 year old girl. She trusts you to be in a relationship with her, therefore we trust you. You are allowed in Rachel's room, when we are home. If we are not, then I ask that you two stay in the basement, where the TV is. During the week, if you are going to take her out, please have her home by 10:30, and on the weekends, 1am. She is mature enough to handle it. Also, if anything comes up, I would like you to put both of our cell phone numbers into your phone book, as well as the house number. Just in case of an emergency or if you are going to be later than usual," when he finished, Puck let out a breath.

"That is no problem, sir," he said.

"You look relieved," Brian said.

"Well, it's just that with my old girlfriend, her parents were extremely strict, and their rules changed on a whim, mainly because they didn't like me," he said, "everything here is very clear and it's all laid out for me. I would have to be an idiot if I were to lose your trust, because there is no way I can mess up."

"I'm glad you feel like, Noah, and I'm glad you agree. This is the first time we've had to do this. Also, just because we're not the normal, going hunting fathers, doesn't mean, we don't have guns. If you hurt our little girl, well, you know how the rest goes, I assume," Brian finished. Puck smiled, this was more what he was used to, but he wasn't going to hurt Rachel, not this time. She was too special.

Rachel looked mortified when her dad said that to Noah, but he didn't get off of the couch and leave a Puck sized hole in the door. He just looked over at her and smiled. The rest of the meal went off without a hitch. They enjoyed steak, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables. It wasn't anything special about the meal; they talked about future plans, about Rachel when she was a little girl. It was just a normal meeting of a new boyfriend and parents. The only difference was there were two fathers instead of a mother and a father. Puck found out that Gabe was a big football fan, and liked the Cleveland Browns. Brian enjoyed landscaping in his free time, and joked that they could go into business together in the summer.

_Just a normal dinner_, Puck thought to himself. However, when the meal was over, and everything was cleaned up, things took a strange turn.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews that I've been receiving. Thank you to the reader who pointed out my major faux pas. Sharon Stone was in ****Basic Instinct****, and it was Glenn Close, who I was referring to in Chapter 1. She was in ****Fatal Attraction****. My fingers were moving faster than my brain. This starts to get a little suggestive, but I promise you who have doubted the M rating, its coming!! Meanwhile, enjoy the latest installment. Chapter 7 will be following, I promise!! And reviews are always welcome  


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Puck helped Rachel clean up the table after they were finished eating. She washed and he dried. She wore a cute apron over her dress. It made her seem very domestic in his eyes. It almost reminded him of the cougars in a way, seeing her in the traditional home role, rather than yelling at him and the rest of Glee about the proper dance steps or hitting the right notes.

It was still early, but her fathers said good night and went up to their bedroom, to give them a little time alone. Rachel suggested they go into the basement and watch a movie. When they got into the basement, Puck couldn't believe his eyes when they reached the bottom of the stairs. The room was an audiophile's dream. There was a 60 inch flat screen television, with a Blu-Ray player, a Nintendo Wii. There was a Bose receiver with surround sound speakers, and one of the walls was completely DVD and Blu-Ray discs, the other wall was all CDs, and in the middle were more Bose speakers with an iPod player in the middle, not to mention a CD player, as well.

"Rachel, this place is amazing," he said running his hands over the wall of DVDs. "Why didn't you ever tell me that you liked movies so much?"

"Oh, this stuff is all of my dads' stuff; I'm more about the CDs," she said and walked over to him. "Is there anything that catches your eye?" she asked as she put her arm around his waist.

"A few things, there is every DVD I have ever wanted to see, have seen, or wanted to own here," he exclaimed like a kid in a candy store. Rachel just put her head down, unable to believe that the overtly sexual, boy who flirted with Sue Sylvester, was unable to notice and advance when it was literally standing right next to him.

"Well, I sort of already picked out a movie for us to watch, it has, I believe the perfect balance of the two of us: music and action. Well, there are people being killed and they sing songs, plus the guy who plays Borat is in it." She said.

"A musical, come on, can't we just watch Borat instead?" he asked, with pleading eyes.

"Just give it a try, Noah, you never know you might like it," she said taking his hand and leading him over to the oversized couch. She set up the player and Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street started playing.

"I think you'll really enjoy this, Noah," she said sitting down, just out of reach on the couch. She wasn't sure how this evening would progress, and the last time they were alone with each, they ended up horizontal, and although she was dying to kiss him again, she wasn't sure how far she was willing to go this time.

Despite its period clothing and old English, Puck really enjoyed the movie, the singing could have been left out, but Helena Bonham Carter's boobs looked awesome in those tight top things. "A corset," Rachel corrected. Plus, Puck pretty much enjoyed all of Johnny Depp's movies. He was a good actor, and if he could film a movie that millions of people would watch and see him sing, it erased some of Puck's doubts of singing in Glee.

Towards the middle of the movie, Puck noticed the awkward way in which Rachel was sitting on the couch. She was sitting normally, but at an angle that was putting her legs at the opposite direction as his body. He was sitting with his legs sprawled open in front of him and sinking into the oversized, overstuffed couch. "Rachel, why don't you relax, you look like you're about to jump off the couch at any given moment."

"I'm just not sure what you expect from me. I'm not like Santana, but I don't want you to think that I'm a prude either, because I'm not," she said, turning towards him. He watched her as she turned.

"Rachel, I don't know what you expect from me. I know who I am, and what I am used to doing, but as we both know, that didn't really work out for us. I'm just as invested in this as you. We both know that the people we wanted to be with aren't available to us, and as you so eloquently put, I wasn't miserable with you, either. I want to try and be happy; I don't want to put up a façade of a tough guy. I mean, I am tough. If anyone messes with you, I'll be sure to put their heard through a wall. Or with anyone in Glee for that matter, because everyone is really cool. The thing is, I've never done this before, Santana was physical, and that's it, the girl can barely spell her name let alone hold a conversation. So, this talking and not just laying horizontally is completely different and unknown to me." He said scooting closer to her on the couch; she slid a little bit away. "Rachel, please." He said extending his hand to her.

She looked at him, and she could see him really this time. Despite the stupid haircut, which she was hoping that in a few weeks she could convince him to either shave it completely or just let it grow in, that he was handsome. Well, she knew he was handsome, but she could see more of him. She could see the kindness in his eyes, and when she put her hand into his, she could feel the tenderness of his touch in comparison to the roughness of his hands. She saw how broad his chest was, and how she felt safe when he encircled her at school earlier in the day. He licked his lips, not in a seductive manner, but she noticed before he sang his solo to her, that he did that because he was nervous. She remembered how that kiss made her feel. When she thought of it, she got a tingling sensation in her stomach, and it felt as though the bottom was going to fall out, but in a good way. Every time she thought of him, that was how she felt. As if there was something wrong with her, but at the same time, as if she would do anything in her power to get that feeling back.

To both of their surprises, in a moment, she was on him. She went from being afraid of his expectations, to not having any in a moment. It was innocent kissing, if one of her father's came down, they would have just been embarrassed and Puck wouldn't have been asked to leave. Rachel was lucky that her fathers weren't old fashioned, and they realized that high school couples will kiss and make out. However, her fathers were two floors up and trusted their daughter. They were not going to come down to check on her.

It was tame. Just kissing, much like how they started out in her bedroom, the week prior. However, they were teenagers, and sooner or later hormones would take over. The only question would be who would be more responsible in stopping the action before it got too heavy for both parties involved.

Due to Puck's sitting position, Rachel was straddled across his lap. Despite wearing a dress, Rachel still managed to look ladylike, and not reveal too much in her compromising position. His hands started on her knees, and slid up to her thighs. He knew what she wanted, and even what he wanted to do, but he was determined on being a gentleman. She rubbed her hands across his chest, and then draped her arms over his shoulders to be able to pull him closer to her. She felt warm, and he pulled his lips off of hers and nuzzled his head into her neck and kissed her neck down and across her collarbone. She began rocking on his lap gently, and before she knew it, she was on her back with him on top of her. She smiled up at him, as he licked his lips, and she could tell that he wasn't nervous now. He bent down and kissed her again as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The hand that he wasn't using to hold himself up was playing with the hem of her dress, and then he slid it slowly up her side. He stopped under his armpit not sure where to go next. So, he went for it. He closed his eyes, and cupped her breast. He braced himself for the slap across that was sure to come. But there was not one to come. She simply arched her back and pulled him into her.

"Rachel, I can't do this," he said getting off the couch. "I'm sorry, but if we keep going, you're just going to turn into another girl whose pants I got into, and I know you don't want that, plus, well. Never mind, Rachel, I should go home, it's getting late. Thank your fathers for dinner and thank you, too," he said flustered and not even looking up to catch the look on her face.

"Noah, what's wrong? You complained about it not being physical just yesterday. You got to touch my boobs, what did I do wrong?" she pleaded, not knowing how things went from hot and heavy to him leaving in an instant.

"Nothing, you did nothing wrong. Rachel, you are beautiful, funny, a bit psychotic, wonderful, and talented, but right now, not us, but this, the physical, I can't do right now, I have to work some things out in my head first, please don't hate me," he bent down, kissed her on the cheek and left.

Rachel, sitting there on the couch, left alone and confused, watched him walk up the stairs, and heard the front door close behind him. She burst into tears.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This is by far the longest chapter yet. It just flowed out of my fingers and I couldn't stop it. I hope everyone likes it so far. I can' t believe all the reviews and how many people made it their favorite. my inbox is overflowing! i love it and am so appreciative. Next chapter will have a lot action. it's the "shit hitting the fan" episode. Although lengthy, I hope everyone enjoys this. Chapter 8 will be following in the next day or so!! Reviews are always. Thank you again!!

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Rachel climbed the stairs to her room; she managed to pull herself together to tell her dads good night. Her cell phone was next to her bed, and noticed that she had a text message, so she checked it.

"You owe us an explanation," and it was from Tina's cell phone number. She realized it was only 9:30 on a Friday night. She called Tina back and Tina told her that they were at the Cracker Barrel getting dessert. Rachel went back to her fathers' room and told them that she was going to meet up with Tina, Mercedes, and Artie.

When she got there, she could tell that they were bursting at the seams to ask her questions about what was going on between her and Puck. She would answer as honestly as possible, and try to omit the night's events from her story, because she wasn't sure what happened tonight, and she certainly didn't want her friends to think that she was being slutty just to keep a boy, though she was sure it wasn't being slutty, just performing the duties of a girlfriend. Never the less, the physical side wasn't any of their business.

"So, you couldn't get one football player so you moved onto the next best one," Mercedes said. It was weird, Mercedes could be an out and out bitch, but no matter what she said no one ever seemed to get mad at her. It was just her way of phrasing things, she meant no harm, but some times the words stung.

"No, Noah and I tried dating, it didn't work, because we both approached it for the wrong reasons," she explained.

"Y-y-y-you were trying to make Finn jealous?" Tina said.

"Yes, that's exactly it. When you aren't in a relationship for the right reasons, then it will never work. We didn't exactly fight when we were together, which was strange, because we are pretty much like oil and water, but we were focused on other things. I was focused on Finn, and well, I'm not sure what he was focused on, but it wasn't me," she said, "but after an adult conversation about our expectations for each other and what our relationship could be rather than what it was, and we came to an agreement that we shouldn't break up without giving it a real try."

"Isn't that forward thinking of you," Artie said as he took a bite out of her peanut butter pie. "I don't understand why you started dating in the first place; I mean football player and Glee club, that's makes about as much sense as Mr. Schuester's metaphors." Artie said garnering a laugh from Tina and Mercedes.

"Sometimes, like bacon and chocolate, you can't tell how they fit together, but they do, and you're pleasantly surprised," Rachel said.

"Okay, well, h-h-h-how do you and P-p-p-puck fit together then?" Tina asked.

"Yeah, the two of you could barely stand to be in the same room with each other, if it wasn't for Glee, I didn't think that the two of you could stand to be in the same room, especially since he's the one who almost caused you to get frostbite on your face from all of the slushies he would throw at you," Mercedes added.

"I know, but who would I be if I wasn't forgiving. Think of all the times that you guys have forgiven me for all of my Glee clubs stomp outs. So for all the times I've been forgiven, I can forgive him," she said, fully believing in her choice to continue this relationship.

"As long as you have it f-f-f-figured out, Rach," Tina said.

"Yeah, I think I might," she said nervously.

"Is that a quiver in the voice of the mighty Rachel Berry?" a familiar voice said from over her shoulder.

"Of course not," she said turning around to see Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez standing behind her.

"I don't know why you keep fooling yourself, Manhands, don't you realize that football players and transvestites, like you, just don't go together. First, you try to hijack **my** boyfriend, which we both know was a huge mistake. How many nights did you cry yourself to sleep over that? And now, you are falling all over Santana's leftovers like you might actually have a chance. So, Dame Edna, why don't you just go home and see if Figgins will let you finish high school by mail," Quinn looked at Santana and gave her a quick high five.

"Your jealousy is amusing, Quinn, but I will not sink to your levels in order to make myself feel good, and I have extended the olive branch to you. You have chosen not to take it, and try to publicly humiliate me. Just remember who is going to be there, Quinn, when everyone else turns their back on you. Those slushy facials aren't because you're in Glee now, it's because your stock is steadily dropping, and that's because of your decisions. Now why don't you make the right one, and walk away. I will forget this ugly incident happened, and you can remember that when you need it, despite your ignorance of how much you actually need it, Glee will still be here for you," Rachel said now standing face to face with Quinn. It wasn't in a threatening matter, because Rachel has more class like that, it was just to show Quinn that Rachel wasn't afraid of her, and she wasn't going to back down. Rachel was not going to threaten a pregnant woman, especially, despite her relationship with Puck, she still had fond feelings for Finn, and she was not going to disrespect him by being mean to Quinn. "Ladies and gentleman, I will be leaving, Tina, Mercedes, I will talk to you later. Oh and Quinn, please think about what I said," Rachel said and she walked away from the table and back to her car.

It was only 11 o'clock when she got into her car, and she started to drive in the opposite direction of her house. She looked at her cell phone at a stop light; she had a few text messages. The first one was from Artie and read, "You should have seen Quinn's face after you left. She turned bright red; I thought her head was going to pop off. Way to go!" Rachel smiled, she was proud of standing up for herself. Rachel was raised not to be mean, rude, or hateful. She and her fathers had put up with a lot growing up, between bigotry and homophobia that rant rampant in the small community. As time went on, people became more accustomed to them and they weren't 100% comfortable with it, but at least the prank calls and the angry letters had stopped. Rachel knew what it was like to be made fun of and she wasn't about to do that to anyone. However, Rachel was not above using desperate measures to have someone see and confront the error of their ways. This was exactly what she was doing with Quinn.

She looked back at the phone and read the second text message, "I really need to explain about what happened tonight. I didn't mean to leave you, I'm not giving up, please call me back."

"Noah," she sighed to herself, and knew exactly where her car was taking her.

She dialed his number when she turned onto his block. "Hello?" he said, he sounded exhausted.

"You wanted to talk?" she said. She was still hurt that he left her in a vulnerable position, and after the encounter with Quinn, she wasn't up for playing games. She was going to cut right to the chase.

"Yeah, do you have time? Were you sleeping?" he asked.

"No, I am actually in front of you house, I went out to meet up with Mercedes, Artie, and Tina. I got your text on my way home, and I just was driving around. I decided to stop by, do you want to come out and talk?" she asking, figuring that if he was going to break up with her, she wanted him to see her face while he did it.

"Why don't you come in? My mom is working the night shift at the hospital and my sister is in bed, I don't want to leave her in the house alone, just in case. I'll come down and open the door for you. See you in a few" and he hung up on his end.

Rachel never went out of the house looking less than perfect. She learned from all of those "Stars without Make-up" issues of tabloids that paparazzi could be anywhere. She checked her hair in the mirror and applied a little of light pink lip gloss she kept in her purse. She took a deep breath, got out of the car, and walked up to the front door.

Puck opened the door. He was standing there with just pajama pants on, Rachel's eyes almost bugged out of her head. She knew he had a good body, but she had never seen him without a shirt on. "Come in, it's a little chilly out," he said, she walked in and he closed the door behind her.

Once the door was closed, Rachel looked around. "Your house is,"

"Small, and not nearly as nice as yours?" Puck said, trying to finish her sentence for her.

"No, that's not what I was going to say at all. It's really nice. I don't know what I was expecting, but I really like it," she said smiling at him. She walked over to the couch. "Would you like to talk now, by putting words into my mouth you're not going to distract me from the fact that you left me high and dry tonight."

"Do you mind if we go to my room, my sister's room is right off the living room, and I don't want to wake her, my room is upstairs," he said, pointing towards the staircase.

"That's fine," she said, slightly curious about what his room looks like. He started off towards his room and she followed.

Once they got in there, she noticed that he not only had a bed in his room, but also a couch, which was good, because she didn't want to have to sit next to him at that moment, and she certainly didn't want to have to sit on his bed. "Do you think that maybe you could put a shirt on?" She asked, not looking him in the eyes.

"Why is it distracting you? Or doing anything else to you," he said slyly.

"While you do have a nice physique, I am not easily distracted by temptations of the flesh, Noah, so why don't we just cut through the crap, and get down to business. It's getting late, and on our first night of dating, or dating and breaking up, or whatever it is that we're doing, I'd rather not keep my fathers waiting and worrying," she said placing herself down on the couch with her arms crossed. Puck went to the closet and put him Lima Football t-shirt on, and went to join her on the couch. "If you wouldn't mind sitting on the bed, I would be more comfortable with that." Before his butt touched the couch, he was lifting himself back up and moved himself to the bed.

"Is that better?" he asked, and she simply nodded her head at him. "So, about tonight, I'm really sorry that I left you," he said, wringing his hands in his lap.

"I know that things got a little serious, but I wasn't about to hand my v-card over to you so quickly, I mean, it was day one of us dating, I wasn't going to prove to you that I was a worthy conquest so quickly, I wish that you would realize that. I know the girls you are used to dealing with have little or no self-worth, but as you can see, my fathers raised me to be confident and be independent," she said completely cutting him off.

"Rachel!" he yelled, only to get her attention. "Please, let me finish. Things got to be a little too intense for me. There's a lot you don't know about me. I'm sure in a matter of time; we'll open up to each other and tell each other our deepest, darkest secrets. Now, however, we just started dating, and from what I know about you, I didn't think that things would progress like that. I am glad that you want to, because, I mean, look at you, who wouldn't? Right now, I think that maybe, you're right, can we take things slow?" he said looking in her eyes. She looked at him, and she was surprised that she could see the sincerity in his eyes, but it was tinged with a bit on fear.

"Noah, I'm finding this all very hard to believe. I'm sorry, but there is no way you can go from being a complete and total dog, to wanting to take it slow, what's the deal?" she said. "I'm the actress here, Noah, and I can totally tell when someone is putting me on."

"I'm not putting you on; there are some things that you don't know about me. We need to get to know each, Rachel. You are the one who stressed that this was going to be a real relationship, and now roles have reversed. You can't wait to get me into bed, and I'm trying to connect with you on an intellectual level. Geez, Berry, I didn't know you could have so much, I don't know: pent up frustration," and with the last word leaving his mouth, there was a pillow that landed right into his head.

"Noah Puckerman, I am not focusing on the physical. I am simply stating that there is no way you can go from cougar hunter, so sweet, caring boyfriend of the year 2009 in 2.5 seconds, either you're setting me up for some huge fall, or you are off your medication," she said, still not convinced.

"What do you think that I am trying to do?" he asked her, as he leaned closer to her, with his hands on his knees.

"Well, since you seemed so hell bent on ruining my life up until about 2 weeks ago, I'm almost positive that you're trying to find out my secrets, and then run to that terribly creeper blogger and have him air my dirty laundry for all the school to see and know, and virtually ruin my chances for any sort of career in show business," she said.

"Is that what you think this is? Do you think that I would kiss you in front of the entire school? Then come and meet you dads, and eat dinner at your house, then make out with you and stop, then ask to talk to you, all just to get a little dirt that you like to listen to crappy music and dance around in your underwear? No matter how much I'd invest in a prank, I would never go that far in. Despite all your utter strangeness, you intrigue me. I haven't felt that way, pretty much ever. Yes, I want know what makes you tick. Do I want to use it against you? Not at all. Can you just believe me?" he slid his hands from his knees to hers. His hands were gentle, yet coaxing. She looked at him, unmoved. "Fine, would you like for me to tell you something embarrassing? You can use it against me whenever you want."

"If that's what you feel you need to do," Rachel said, still not completely convinced that this wasn't some sort of elaborate prank that he had come up with. If he had simply said that he found her repulsive, it would have been easier to believe that what he was saying to her now. Or even that he had some sort of tropical disease that made him break out in pox whenever he touched a woman's breast, but this good boyfriend, we need to get to know each other stuff just wasn't the Noah Puckerman that she thought she knew.

"Okay, when I was a little boy, maybe 5 or 6. I used to run around the house in those big pants that were almost metallic, screaming that it was "Pucker Time." Because my mom always had an MC Hammer video on, because she liked him when he first came out, and felt really bad when he had to file for bankruptcy. How's that for embarrassing?" he asked.

"Not too embarrassing, I'm sure I have worse, but that's for another time," she said as she stood up. "I've got to go, it's getting late, and I have a lot to process for this evening."

He stood up the same time she did and he was about 4 inches away from her. She could feel her body responding to how close he was, and for the first time in a while, Rachel didn't trust herself. Sure, she was almost completely sure that he was bullshitting her, but still the close proximity in which they stood made her excitedly uncomfortable. "No problem, I'll walk you to the front door." When they reached the door, he bent down to kiss her on the cheek. "Please, let me know when you get home." She nodded and walked to her car. She checked the time to see that it was quarter after midnight, and before she could put the phone back into her purse, it vibrated in her hand. She checked the text message and it read, "with all of the craziness right now, I forgot to tell you something very important: you looked gorgeous when I opened the door and saw you standing there. I hope that's not the last time I can encounter that sight. Let me know when you're home safe."

Rachel drove home with a smile on her face. She sent him a text when she had finished her nightly routine of getting ready for bed. A minute or two after she sent the text that she was home safe and getting ready to go to sleep, her phone began to ring, so looked down at the caller id to see it was Puck. "Hello?" she answered.

"Let's talk. Tell me, what the first musical you saw was?" he asked knowing that it would be a question that she could trust, and have no problem with answering.

"West Side Story, of course, why?" she asked.

"Because I want to know everything about you, and I would hope to be able to tell you everything about me," he answered without skipping a beat.

Thus began their nightly tradition of lying in bed and talking on the phone about anything and everything that came into their heads. Except one thing, Puck hoped to keep that a secret as long as he could, but he knew that he was fooling himself, because within a month and a half of their dating, and her finally being able to trust him was all going to come crashing down around them. And the most unlikely person will have been the catalyst for the events to come.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. The past couple of weeks without Glee left without inspiration, but I'm back and better than ever, I hope. Please read and review. Remember, I do not own Glee, any of the characters, or any of the songs mentioned. Thank you and I hope you enjoy

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**

Rachel and Puck continued their relationship, without a hitch, Quinn still wasn't too keen on her, but then again, after all of that Finn nonsense, Rachel doubted that she and Quinn would ever like each other. Puck noticed that Finn still looked at Rachel, but Rachel, never cast a glance in Finn's direction, unless they were performing a duet. Puck thought that Finn looked like a lost puppy dog, but Quinn, whenever he caught her eye, had a look of anger, in it.

"Alright, lately it seems as there is a bit on dissention in the ranks over who is singing the leads, and although Rachel and Finn do have the strongest voices so far, it seems unfair to allow them to keep singing lead, so we will have another competition," Mr. Schuester announced one day at practice. "Instead of pairing off into the uncanny number of couples we have in Glee now," looking around at Rachel and Puck, Quinn and Finn, Tina and Artie, Brittany and Mike, Santana and Matt, when Mr. Schuester's eye met Mercedes and Kurt, they feigned a make-out session that was over the top, and made everyone laugh.

"Don't be jealous because my man Kurt is the hottest guy in here with the best fashion sense," Mercedes said, getting up and circling around Kurt as if she were one of Barker's Beauties, and he was a new car.

Everyone laughed, and Kurt struck a pose. "Alright, so everyone, writes their name on a piece of paper, and put it in this hat. I will not be dividing you down gender lines, I think that will make it more interesting, and force you to be creative," Mr. Schue said settling everyone down. So, they wrote their names on a piece of paper, Rachel was the last to place hers in the hat, because she couldn't find her stickers to put a star at the end.

"Okay, so I will pick out 6 names, and place them on the piano, the next 6 names I pick will be the first six's partners, okay?" Mr. Schue said while shaking the hat to mix up the slips of paper. He picked the first set of names. "Alright, Mercedes, Kurt, Rachel, Mike, Brittany, and Santana, you will be the first half of our teams," Rachel looked at Puck, and he looked at her and smiled. His smile was nervous, yet seductive. He had been almost 2 months that they were dating and the affect his smile had on her was still the same. She noticed the dimple on the side of his chin, and now that his hair had grown out a bit, she had managed to keep him preoccupied enough to not realize that he needed a haircut, which he didn't because his hair had just started to look normal. He looked ruggedly handsome.

"Alright, here we go, their partners," Mr. Schue said as he put his into the hat. "Mercedes' partner will be, Puck," Rachel heart dropped a bit. She knew that it was unlikely they would be partners, but at least it was Mercedes and not Quinn or Santana. Rachel was confident in her relationship with him now, but she was not immune to feelings of jealousy, especially when barely 2 months ago, Puck had strong feelings for Quinn, and Santana was a former bedfellow of his. Mr. Schue announced that Kurt's partner would be Finn, and Kurt's eyes lit up like there was a sale at Marc Jacobs. Rachel waited with bated breath when it was her turn to receive a partner. Only Artie, Matt, and Quinn were left. She was hoping that she would be paired with Artie. She knew he had good vocals, and it wouldn't be as awkward, because she had spent some time with Artie. "And Rachel, your partner will be," Mr. Schuester pulled out, "Quinn." Rachel couldn't believe her ears. After the verbal lashings they had given each other at the Cracker Barrel a few months before, Rachel and Quinn barely looked at each other. While the rumors stopped, Quinn and Rachel were far from being friends, and this was either going to be good or terrible. Santana and Artie ended up together, Brittany and Tina, and Mike and Matt. "Alright, kids, I want you to pick out ballads to sing, and we will be performing them next week. I want everything, full choreography, costumes, just like the mash-ups. I have a list of songs if anyone needs ideas, but I want you to be creative with this," Mr. Schuester said before having them get with their partners and brainstorm ideas.

After Glee practice, Rachel and Puck walked to his truck together, "So what song has you and Mercedes decided to sing?" Rachel asked him, despite the fact that they were dating; her competitive nature still took over during anything musically related.

Puck knew this, so he decided to mess with her a little bit, "Rachel, now if I told you, where would the surprise be in that?" he said putting his arm over her shoulder. "Plus, this is me and Mercedes; let's have a little friendly competition between the two of us, okay?"

"Competition and friendly should never been in a sentence together, Noah, much like ironic and show choir," she said. "Please tell me what you're singing." She asked sweetly, but he could hear the demand in her voice.

"What are you and Quinn singing?" he asked trying to get the topic off of him for once. He knew that it wasn't a big deal to Mercedes if he told her, and it wasn't even a big deal to him, he just liked annoying her. Her cheeks flushed, and he could tell that she was close to full on meltdown.

"'Tell Him' by Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand. We are mixing old and new, it will be hard to condition Quinn's voice to perform such a vocally challenging song in such a short period of time, but as long as she practices everyday, and now without Cheerios to distract her I'm sure she will have enough time to commit to my practice schedule I have drawn up for us," she said taking a piece of paper out of her bag.

Puck took the paper out of her hand, "Hmmm...," he said rubbing his chin, "that's strange, I don't see 'spend time with my boyfriend,' written on here, are you trying to tell me something, Rachel?" he said, wrapping his arms around her, once they reached the truck.

"I've left some time free, and I can pencil it in if you tell me what song you are performing," she said staring into his eyes, she tried the smoldering look he always managed to give her, but she just burst out into laughter.

"Fine, Rachel, we're singing 'All Cried Out,' but the Allure and 112 version," he told her. "Are you happy now? You ruined my surprise for you," he said hanging his head down.

"That's a very good song, I'm glad to see that you're catering to Mercedes' request to have a less Broadway song, and more something of R&B, but it is a cover of an 80's classic, so it suits both of you very well," she said, and she could tell by that glazed over look in his eyes that she was starting to lose him. "Well, I hope that the choice of that song isn't a reflection on our relationship, Noah Puckerman, I couldn't bear the thought of imagining you laying face down on your bed crying over me every night, thinking about how wonderful I am and how lucky you are to have me in your life," she said laughing and tickling him.

"I cry so hard," he said, rubbing his eyes and making his best sad face. She just laughed and got into the truck. As he was walking around the truck to the driver's side, so noticed him fish something out of his pocket. She realized it was his phone and he gave her the "just a moment" sign, and she knew it must be a personal call. She sighed. Some times when his phone would ring, he would leave the room, so that way she couldn't hear what he was saying. She knew that they were still getting to know each other, but she couldn't help but feel there was something that he wasn't telling her.

"I feel like there is something that he's going out of his way to hide from me," she explained to Mercedes later that night. Puck had gotten off the phone quickly and drove her home. Explaining that his and Mercedes' first practice would be the next day after school, and while in the past 2 months they have had made leaps and bounds in the trust department, she still felt the need to express her concerns to Mercedes.

"I'm sure there isn't anything to worry about, this is just the old Rachel Berry creeping back in. You need to calm down, how about I do a little poking around at practice tomorrow? We're working on our song after school, so when we're going over choreography, it's not going to be all work and no play, it won't be," Mercedes' voice trailed off.

"What won't it be? Pray tell, my dear friend," Rachel said, almost daring her to say it. Unfortunately, she knew Mercedes far too well.

"It won't be like one of your practices," Mercedes said defiantly. Yet another time when Mercedes was simply joking around and still her words stung.

"Well, don't pry too much, I'm just worried, I've seen him talking to Quinn quietly lately, too, that worries me. I know he had feelings for her before we started dating. I know I'm probably looking too deep into things, they are friends, maybe they are planning a surprise party for Finn, I don't know, but I just have a weird feeling in my gut, the kind of feeling I used to get when I would see a slushy coming my way, I just don't know how to describe it, it makes me physically ill. I could scream or cry, I don't know," Rachel blathered on.

"Girl! Hold on! You need to calm down, I will figure everything out. I'll talk to him, just don't have a meltdown, when are you and Quinn practicing?" Mercedes asked, trying to draw her thoughts to the competition rather than to the worry that the Puck lines of questioning lead her down.

"I guess since Puck is practicing tomorrow, I'll run it by Quinn to practice at the same time, are you practicing in the glee room or in the auditorium?" Rachel asked.

"In the room, all of the instruments are there; I thought that Puck could bring his guitar, could you ask him?" Mercedes inquired.

"Not a problem, I'll ask Mr. Schue for the auditorium then, it shouldn't be a problem, and then I can still get a ride home, rather than having to take the bus, or worse, asking Quinn for a ride home." Rachel said, shivering with the thought.

"Oh yeah, I can just imagine you getting into her beetle, you two, listening to Britney Spears talking about the latest trends in pregnant fashions," Mercedes said laughing.

"That sounds a lot more like what you and Kurt do every day after school," Rachel said, finally getting a dig in.

"He listens to Lady Gaga, and it's more like his fashions, not Quinn's, but no worries, I'll get it out of Puck, if there is anything to get out of him," Mercedes said reassuringly.

Rachel sighed, "Thanks a lot, I'll talk to you tomorrow, Noah should be calling soon." Rachel hung up the phone, every night for the past 2 months Puck had called her at 10:15 every night. They talked about everything. He knew it made him seem like a pansy, but they talked about a lot of stuff that he only ever thought about, and it wasn't even dirty things. They talked about their futures, and where they see themselves in 10 years. They talked about their childhoods. It wasn't all serious; sometimes they just talked about movies, music, homework, or classmates. Rachel was never a gossip, but Puck seemed to bring it out in her. He didn't ever use any of the information against any of the people she talked about. Except Jacob Ben Israel, he creeped her out, and Puck wanted to make sure that he made it known that Rachel was his girlfriend now, and that no one should harass her about anything. Puck broke into his locker, and took back the panties she had given him to keep, when she didn't want the news to get out that Quinn was pregnant.

Rachel punched the bed. There were times when she wanted a truce with Quinn. When she wanted to be friends, she wasn't sure why Quinn was so against being a good teammate. I'm sure there were people on the Cheerios that she didn't like, but they all were always so buddy-buddy. She didn't want to sleep over Quinn Fabray's house and do each other's hair; she just wanted them to be able to be civil to each other; to be able to stand being in the same room together. This was going to be trial by fire, Rachel decided. She felt her phone vibrate next to her, she looked down and the caller id read Puck's name.

"What is your favorite ice cream flavor?" he asked her without even saying hello to her.

"Peanut butter, but not like peanut butter cup. Peanut butter ice cream, with chunks of peanut butter in it, that's what I like. I don't like it when there's chocolate, just straight up peanut butter. The more the better," she said. "What about you?"

"Rocky road," he answered, not as excited she was.

"Noah, what's wrong, you don't sound like yourself, plus you called a little late. Is everything okay?" she asked, worried about him.

"Everything is great. I was just in the mood for ice cream," his voice trailed off, and she heard a knock at her door.

Rachel opened the door, and there he was with two bowls, one of rocky road, and one of pure peanut ice cream, with peanut butter sauce and peanut butter chips. She took the bowls from his hands, and jumped on him and gave him a huge hug. "Thank you, I was feeling a little down after glee today, and ice cream is exactly what I needed," she said kissing him lightly on the lips. She sat down on the bed and patted the space next to her, inviting him to sit on the bed. He closed the door behind him and took the place she indicated on the bed.

She put in a movie, this time it was something he was bound to like, Blow, with Johnny Depp in it. She decided that any Johnny Depp movies were good choices, because he appealed to both men and women. She nuzzled into his arms, and they were lying back on the bed in no time.

About halfway through the movie, they weren't watching anymore. This was how things usually went between them. Rachel always had the best intentions when it came to Puck. She enjoyed their phone conversations where she learned things about him and his past. The good and the bad both were topics of conversations. She remembered back to the night that she learned how good he was at getting into trouble, and that he was even better at getting out of it. She also learned that he gained a bad reputation, that when things went wrong that he had nothing to do with, he got blamed. What was even more amazing was that he never disputed it. Even when it wasn't his fault, he took the fall.

"I've done a lot of bad things, not like, I should be in jail, but most of the pranks are my ideas. When other kids are trying to prove themselves, they feel like they can get away with it because they know Figgins will most likely blame me. So they really aren't trying anything new, they are just as cowardly as they started out because they couldn't fess up their deeds." He explained to her.

"So, some of those things that you did to me, like the mice in my locker and the pee balloons, weren't you?" she looked at him hopefully.

"No, that was me, but if it makes you feel better, I wasn't the one throwing the balloons, I was just driving the car," he said. "Rachel, I'm really sorry for all of that. I hope that you can forgive me. I didn't know what a wonderful, nice, sexy, compassionate, talented, and sweet person you were," he said to her cooing into the phone at her.

"I know that it was you, but I was just making sure, and I think that I have forgiven you, I think some of the things we have done have proven that, Noah Puckerman," she said saucily. She always tended to use his full name when she was been flirty or teasing him.

"You really need to come up with a new name to use, when you call me Noah Puckerman, I feel like you're my mother and you caught me trying to cut my sister's hair," he said.

"Well, you don't really have a nickname for me either, I say we put our thinking caps on and start thinking about it," Rachel said, bidding him a farewell for the evening.

Now, they were on the bed, no nicknames in sight. They were kissing, and he was no longer shy with his hands, they were roaming over her body as if none of it were uncharted territory anymore. _Well, some of it hasn't been charted_, he thought, but those thoughts which were troubling in the beginning, did not seem to plague him as much anymore. He was happy that she let him close to her that she trusted him enough to be in her bedroom, alone. He was happy that he wasn't uncomfortable around her father's anymore, that he was able to talk to Gabe and Brian about sports, and even music, which was weird. Rachel led most of those conversations, but he was an active participant nowadays. She was most definitely an active participant now. Her fingernails dug into his back, and she ground her hips into him while she was on top kissing him. Usually they did when they were watching movies, and right around this point was when he stopped, because he didn't want to take advantage of her. Today, he wasn't in the mood to stop. He knew that he would eventually, and that he wasn't going to force her to do anything that she didn't want to do. He just wasn't done to detach his lips from hers. He wasn't finished enjoying the way her lips were cold from the ice cream, but her tongue was warm on his. He was enjoying the contours of her body, and loved how well her body, her hands, and her mouth fit perfectly against his. He cherished these moments with her, but he constantly felt guilty when he was with her.

He was never a relationship like this before. He knew relationships were give and take, mostly the girls gave it up and he took their virginity. It was something he was used, and he wasn't going to lie, something he liked. Rachel was different. She elicited feelings inside of him that he wasn't sure if he would ever be capable of feeling. She went out of her way to make him feel good about himself. She had never been to a football game before she dated him, and he was sure that if they broke up, she would never go again. She hadn't been to games to cheer on Finn. That meant something to him. Finn had never been in her room, and he was sure that Finn had never been on her bed. Sure, he heard a rumour that they made out a couple times, it may have been teenage embellishment, but he was sure that she had never let Finn touch her the way he was touching her now. Now that she was his and he was hers, he was going to make sure that was never a possibility that ran through her mind. He grabbed her and turned her over so he was now on top. This wasn't one of those times he was going to stop. He was full steam ahead, but he had to know in good faith that this was what she wanted to do, as well.

He crushed his lips against her, and she clasped her hands around his neck to pull him into her. He parted their lips, and breathlessly asked her, "do you want me to stop?" Barely giving her time to answer, his lips were on hers again. She shook her head, "no," while still kissing him. She broke the kiss.

"If it's getting too heavy for me, I'll let you know," she said, and picked up where they left off. Besides his shirt, no clothes were taken off. Despite being a football player who had a bad boy reputation, his skin was surprisingly soft and smooth. She ran her hands along his chest. Her skirt, though still on her, wasn't covering much up, as his hands ran along her inner and outer thighs, feeling the smooth skin that she usually only gave him glimpses of when she flounced around school, and her skirt was blown by the breeze she created for herself.

She felt his hands all over her body, and she was comfortable with him. When he held her in his arms and kissed her with the passion he had exhibited in this session, all of her fears of the afternoon had melted away. He wasn't there because he knew he was going to "get some," he was there because he wanted to be. There were tons of girls at the school was would love to be in her position, and they weren't shy of letting her know it. There were mean letters in her locker for the first couple of weeks after they started dating. Girls spread rumors about her, and told Puck flat out that she was a transvestite. She still couldn't figure out why Quinn was so mad that she was dating Puck. Quinn had her own football player boyfriend, what was she afraid that Rachel would want to hang out with them and join the cheerleading squad now? Rachel didn't think so. So instead, she arched her back and enjoyed the kisses that her boyfriend, Noah Puckerman, was littering down her neck and collarbone. He felt his hand slide higher up her inner thigh. She knew this was the line that they had been dying to cross. If she let him continue, there was no going back. She felt him fumbling with the elastic of the pale pink silk panties she was wearing. She sucked in her breath, and he stopped.

"Is everything okay, baby?" he asked with his face nuzzled in her neck. "Do you want me to stop?"

"Noah, everything was perfect, but since you stopped, I think its best," she said resigning herself to the fact that at this rate she may never lose her virginity.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you, it's just a natural inclination for me," he said getting up to leave.

"Noah, its fine, I'm not upset at all. I think we're both not sure if we're ready for that step, I know you have made it seem like you are always ready," her eyes fluttered to the front of his pants, "and I think right now that may be true," she said with color flushing her cheeks. "But right now, I think it's best that we just finish the movie. Is that okay with you?"

"It's a great idea, should I sit on the chair?" he asked starting to get up.

"Only if you really want to get into trouble," she said kissing him.

The next day after school was Puck's first practice with Mercedes for their ballad. He was hesitant to show up, but he knew that his commitment to Glee club was in some strange way connected to his commitment to Rachel, it was the same way that his commitment to football tied to his commitment to Finn. Mercedes was waiting for him in the Glee room. She had the karaoke track for the song ready to go. As he was walking up to the Glee room, Quinn was on the opposite side of the door and she motioned for him to come closer. As he walked past the door, he gave Mercedes the sign that he was just be a minute. "I forgot something in my locker," he yelled into the room to her. Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"What do you want, Quinn?" he asked.

"What do you think I want? You didn't answer any of my calls last night, sure Finn has a job now, but this baby is yours. I still need help, he's just getting minimum wage, and while it helps, it's not everything; I have 6 more months of doctor's visits and sonograms that I will need help paying. Noah Puckerman, don't think just for one second that you are off this hook for this. You got me into this mess, and you will help me out of it, and that will help me take some of the pressure off of Finn," she said in a hushed yet urgent tone.

"First you tell me that I'm the father, but you don't want me to do anything, now you want money from me?" he said shaking his head in disbelief. "Do they take you off your bi-polar meds when you're pregnant? Because you are talking crazy! Either I'm the father or Finn's the father. For some reason, the great, Quinn Fabray, it's a choice of who is the father of her kid. You sleep with me, and then put the responsibility on Finn. You find the way to pay for it, like you said; Finn's the father, not me. You figured that out, now you figure this out." He said. He turned to go back towards the music room, and in the door way he saw a bright magenta flash. He put his head down, and cursed to himself. "This is going to be awkward," he said and entered the room, where a waiting to practically burst Mercedes was waiting for him.


End file.
